At this time, Huating was actually the seat of Songjiang Prefecture, but the common people habitually called it Huating instead of Songjiang.
Starting from the north gate of Pinghu County, it took half an hour to reach Xiangyang River. Following Xiangyang River upstream would lead to Pujiang River, and less than ten li north of Pujiang River was Huating. Twenty-odd li west of the confluence of Xiangyang River and Pujiang River was Fengjing.
The area was a dense network of waterways, but not difficult to traverse. After all, it was an ancient commercial city, and the official roads were built very wide and straight, with no dangers or obstacles. Except for the curious onlookers from the common people, there were no other abnormalities.
About an hour later,
Zhu Mo, leading the vanguard arquebusiers, could already see the tributaries of Xiangyang River in the distance. The water surface here was quite wide, but fortunately, there were many bridges, with a stone bridge every two or three li. The scouts were led by Zheng Qin at the front, and Yin Xiaohu led the righteous volunteers to cover the rear. Everyone's morale was high.
At this moment,
Zheng Qin rode back on his horse, his face quite anxious, and said, "Scholar Zhu, there are cannons ahead!"
Cannons?
Could it be that the Portuguese from the Fengjing area had returned to defend?
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He rode forward and saw that at both ends of a wide stone bridge west of the river tributary, Portuguese soldiers in red uniforms were indeed running around, and dozens of cannons were mounted on both banks of the river. In addition, not far from the opposite bank, there was also a large circular encampment, similar to what was seen in Taizhou that day, all enclosed by intertwined large tree trunks.
The two of them were now hidden in a small bamboo forest, very close.
This was Zheng Qin's first time seeing the enemy's Falconet cannons and matchlock guns, and he wondered, "Scholar Zhu, they also have firearms and cannons, and even more than us..."
Zhu Mo smiled and said, "Don't worry, their cannons are not good... They can at most shoot a hundred zhang, while we can shoot three to four hundred zhang or more. Only we can shoot them, and they can't shoot back."
He roughly estimated the distance and had a plan. He said, "Let's go back. We'll cross the river at Xiguadou, circle around to the enemy's east, and fire from across Xiangyang River."
Zheng Qin pondered for a moment. He seemed to understand a little, but after all, he had never experienced a battle between two sides' artillery. He felt that it was very reliable, but he was still a little disbelieving that it would be so easy to fight.
Zhu Mo didn't want to explain to him. Once there was a generational gap in weapons, it would be a merciless crush, and there would be no chance to fight back.
...
Xiguadou was about two li away from the main river of Xiangyang River. More than six thousand people crossed the river along this route, carrying cannons, and the enemy did not discover them.
Half an hour later,
It was already three quarters of the Chen hour, and the army camped in a clearing with weeds.
This was the vast area between Xiangyang River and Pujiang River, named Lijia Village, and it was densely populated. Zhu Mo did not want to disturb the people, so he concentrated eighteen cannons about two hundred meters away from the riverbank. According to a rough estimate, the distance to the bridgehead occupied by the Portuguese was more than 1 kilometer.
The Falconet cannons had a maximum range of only four hundred meters. To get close enough to fire at the main camp, they would need to advance at least seven to eight hundred meters, and during this seven to eight hundred meter journey, they would have been blown to smithereens by the rapid-firing iron bodhisattvas.
Everything was ready, and he timed it. At the beginning of the Si hour, he immediately gave the order:
"Fire!"
Whoosh~~
Boom boom!
Boom boom boom boom!
Amidst a series of dense roars, eight hollow-point shells and ten solid shot shells landed on the enemy's two artillery positions.
In an instant, thick smoke billowed up. If the nearby forest were not damp, it would have already caught fire. At this moment, it was roasted to the point of emitting dense white smoke.
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In the Portuguese camp,
Torres, who had just emerged from a tent in the woods, was terrified and shouted:
"Where? What's going on?"
Amidst a flurry of chatter, many Portuguese soldiers pointed to the east bank of the river. Torres looked up and saw dark cannonballs flying wave after wave, with an interval of less than ten seconds between them. He was instantly terrified.
Others might not recognize the goods, but could he not have discernment?
Even the Royal Navy did not have such cannons!
What was most terrifying was not only the range and rate of fire, but also the shells that could explode upon landing. With a single exploding shell, a deafening roar, and anyone within thirty meters would be injured by shrapnel, causing a large number of casualties.
While he was still in shock, in just the time it took to snap one's fingers, more than half of the three hundred soldiers had fallen. The remaining half were either fleeing and hiding in the fields or lying on the ground pretending to be dead.
However, he was a desperate man, experienced in battle. At this moment, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he shouted:
"Forward! Forward! Return fire!"
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The forty to fifty veteran soldiers also reacted, knowing that returning fire was their only way to survive. They immediately pushed the gun carriages and moved east along the riverbank. Kuaiδugg
It should be known that,
Torres was originally a pirate. He had assisted Mang Yinglong in pacifying Mengguo in Myanmar. Matchlock guns and Falconet cannons were regarded as divine artifacts by the Burmese, and he himself was considered a divine person. He was even granted an island by Mang Yinglong, becoming a veritable king. This time, Suo Zha personally invited him to preside over the battle for the gates of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, he had already received Suo Zha's promise that he could claim Nan'ao as private property, so he was full of ambition.
But at this moment, he never dreamed that such a scene would occur. He couldn't help but murmur, "What that pirate said was true..."
At this time,
Seeing that the enemy had scattered, Zhu Mo decided to temporarily halt the bombardment.
During this interval,
Torres assumed that the enemy's cannons had either burst or run out of shells. He immediately rushed to the front, picked up a matchlock gun, and shouted:
"Charge! Only three hundred steps left!"
It should be known that,
At this time, Portugal was dominant. British length units were not yet common. The Portuguese still used the ancient Roman "step" as a unit of measurement, with one step equivalent to 1.5 meters. Three hundred steps meant seven hundred and fifty meters. This meant that as long as they ran about seven hundred and fifty meters further, the range of the Falconet cannons would cover the enemy's camp.
But Zhu Mo actually wanted them to gather again, so as not to waste cannonballs.
At this time,
The Portuguese slowly formed a formation again, advancing east along Xiangyang River. Relying on more than twenty cannons, they roughly formed a square formation.
Zhu Mo wanted to meet force with force this time, and said in a deep voice:
"Fire!"
Boom boom boom!
Boom boom boom boom!
As everyone watched the shells land, the enemy soldiers immediately fell in large numbers. Even the Falconet cannons were smashed into pieces by solid shot. In panic and despair, only seventy to eighty people remained, fleeing north towards the Japanese pirate camp.
In a skirmish, the Falconet camp, which the Portuguese considered a major highlight, was almost annihilated in the time it took to boil an egg.
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Not only Zheng Qin and Yin Xiaohu, but all the arquebusiers and righteous volunteers found it unbelievable that the powerful, legendary Portuguese had been defeated just like that...
Zhu Mo snorted and gave the order:
"Zheng Qin, you lead the artillery and arquebusier camp across the river at Lijia Bridge, but be vigilant against any enemy counterattacks... Yin Xiaohu, you go and clear out the enemy positions, see if there are any survivors, and capture them all. Also, see if there are any other items!"
"Yes, sir!"
Yin Xiaohu and the righteous volunteers originally thought there would be a fierce battle, but instead, they had witnessed a grand spectacle, and the battle was over.